~ affirmations and words to uplift

Monthly Archives: September 2015

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?’” (Mark 4: 13)

When Jesus wanted to make a point he spoke in parables. I personally do not think that Jesus was trying to be evasive in answering a question, but, in addition to parables being a common way people told stories in the ancient world to illustrate their point, Jesus wanted his audience to listen with a new way of thinking and a new way of understanding.

Spirit within us always desires to experience more, to bring us new understanding and to lift us up to experiencing new perspective in our lives. A willingness to look at life in a different way is often the greatest gift we can give to ourselves. Limited thinking and beliefs created much of what we experience today. Often those old beliefs include thinking of a God who is far away and very distant and inaccessible to us.

If we ever hope to gain some understanding of God working in our lives we can no longer be complacent and expect God to speak to us if we aren’t willing to expand our thinking and open a new and fresh space for God to connect with us. Athletes often speak of being “in the zone” and we need only turn within, to a place where we surrender into Spirit, and away from the world’s defeatist thinking. Our willingness to listen to Spirit deeply is a powerful agent to new understanding. Exfoliating our negative thinking and providing a space for God’s possibility changes everything.

God is not distant, or far away, or off someplace requiring us to work hard to get God’s attention. God is right where we are and available to us at any time. Look no further than deep within yourself to meet the perfect light of Spirit that created you. You will discover God’s grace, blessing and miracles are closer than you previously may have thought.

Affirmation: “Open to the fullness of God all around me I now understand Spirit moving in my life in a new and exciting way.”

“You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16: 11)

“Spirit, what would you have me do? In this moment, in the quiet, I surrender to you.” (lyric, Joanne O’Brien)

Recently I discovered a major advantage to changing my morning routine. I had a habit of after getting my morning coffee sitting down at the computer, answering emails both personal and church related, looking through Facebook and Twitter and reading the news online. After this I would finally sit for some moments of quiet reflection and meditation before getting ready to leave the house and begin my day. Of course what I have discovered is that by the time I sat to meditate my mind was filled with things to do and news events that wanted to dominate my thinking.

So, I now have a new routine that has proven to be a major life-changer. Before doing anything else I sit in the quiet of the morning hours, pray, and through a practice called “mindfulness,” sit in the quiet, aware of my breathing and dwelling only on that present, conscious moment. Being in the silence, first thing in the morning, before doing anything else, has allowed me to beautifully melt into that silence with God and surrender into the power of Spirit right where I am.

Keeping ourselves in the present while meditating is a powerful way to open us up to experiencing God moving in our lives at that very moment. Yes, ideas and thoughts will come to us. Some of these we may want to act upon later and this quiet time has been a blessing in giving us order to the day ahead, but above all this is an opportunity to fully be in the presence of the Divine. To fully experience God as each breath fills us with oxygen and the energy of truth. We are each and every one of us a powerful part of God’s universe and each day has been created masterfully by God for our full experience of its wonder. Spending time in the quiet first thing each morning, before anything else grabs our attention, can be a meaningful way in experiencing this Perfect Spirit in all of its perfection and truth.

Affirmation: “When I surrender myself into the presence of Perfect God I discover amazing gifts of the Spirit.”

I love how this scripture begins and what it says to us. Right away we must understand that when God speaks, we need to listen, and we need to listen good. God speaks of the truths about who God is and what God does. We need to listen, God is about to tell us something. Pay attention. Be alert. This is going to be good.

In scripture we are constantly being reminded of the miracles God has already performed. Look at what God has done, not that this will be the only miracle, but look at it so that you will know the power and the majesty of all that God can and will do. If God has done this in the past, blessed you, lifted you, brought you out of bondage, (whatever that bondage for you might be, your personal slavery in defeat, or the current feeling of exile) would not God continue to bless you abundantly?

Here is where we all really get into trouble. So often we nurse and rehearse the past hurts and problems that we have had. They play over and over in our minds and these thoughts, these vibrations we have experienced, get magnified. More and more they get magnified. Is it any wonder that we repeat over and over negative patterns in our lives? I’ve said this many times, things are always changing, they can’t help but always be changing, but if we dwell on and play over and over the past hurts in our lives then the things that are changing are just changing to more of the same. We get stuck. God tells us to stop going over the old history of bondage. The time spent on going over the old can be better spent discovering the new. Wonderful things await us when we learn to listen to what God is saying to us.

God has so much more of life, and life abundantly, to shower upon us. We must remain open and receptive to what God is doing in our lives. God is a God of possibility and longs to show us what is next.

This is what God says: “You are loved, just as you are and I am with you always.”

Affirmation: “I listen to God with an intention to really understand. That really makes all the difference in the world.”

“When Jesus family heard the crowd outside they could not even eat. The family went out to restrain Jesus because the crowd was saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21)

When I was in elementary school I was bullied. There were a few people in my school who just didn’t like me and delighted in picking on me, seeing if they could make me cry, or run away and miss out on the joy of being on the playground with other classmates.

Judgments by others really hurt. Just judging another in our minds I think is a form of bullying. When we pick on them with our minds that almost always leads to picking on them with our actions. I guess sometimes there are people who just don’t “get” us. Understand who we are, or what we are all about. We don’t seem to fit into what “they” think we should be.

Now, I firmly believe that we are all unique and special creations of a loving God. God designed each of us, fashioned each of us, with a very special and fascinating personality, look, outlook, and with our own special dreams and ambitions. We are living out our unique creation when we go through our lives being fully authentic to that creation and being the best “us” we can ever be. As long as what we are doing does not hurt, bring harm or dehumanize another, we are being who God created us to be.

As we read through our Biblical texts, and learn how people treated Jesus, we can very easily come to the conclusion that he was also bullied by those who just didn’t understand him. When we decide to follow Jesus, and do as he commanded us to do, there will always be people who will not understand us and think we too are “mad.” But we do not let that stop us from living lives of transforming faith and conviction in the wonderful possibilities of God in our lives.

If being thought “mad,” “foolish,” or “odd,” is the price one has to pay for affirming the fullness of God’s power in my life, and for affirming the teachings of Jesus, then bring it on.

Affirmation: “Living my life following the example of Jesus is truly amazing, spectacular, blessed; well, the list just goes on and on.”

“Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.” (1 Chronicles 16:11)

Recently I was transferring some music from vinyl disks into my itunes. One of the recordings I had was from our church choir when I was growing up. In youth choir we used to sing a song that has always stayed in my mind. It began with a soprano solo and I love hearing my dear friend Kathy’s glorious youthful voice singing forth, “Seek ye the Lord, that he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” I think about this song quite often, not just the melody, but also the meaning of the lyrics. I also think about the scripture, “When I was child I thought as a child.” In my youth, even though this song ministered to me with a wonderful message, I heard the lyric about a God who perhaps was distant; that I needed to seek the Lord in a way that made sure I didn’t miss this beautiful presence while it was close at hand. In the Old Testament we often read of the Lord’s presence “passing by,” and that the faithful needed to make our requests known to God in those special times.

As I have come to re-examine this lyric, and certainly the scripture, I now understand that God is forever near, for God is right where we are at every moment. Earlier in the scripture from 1 Chronicles it refers to the covenant God made with Abraham. It is a covenant that God is with us always and our seeking the Lord’s presence is as easy as turning our thoughts to Spirit’s Divine fullness. When we turn, when we seek, we do indeed find that sweet presence of the Divine. It is a presence that binds us and all peoples to Spirit. Jewish, Muslim and Christian, all descendants of Abraham, but this is also meant to include all those who are the unique and special creation of God. We are each and every one of us a vital part of the mosaic of God’s heavenly kingdom here on earth.

Seek the Lord that Spirit may be found, deep within you, and seek knowing that you find the complete fullness of God’s possibility and grace right where you are at every moment. God has been waiting for you. We must make the decision to show up in faith.

Affirmation: “I need look no further than right where I am to find the wonderful presence of perfect Spirit/God.”

We live our lives one thought at a time. Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Please join us each Sunday for our SpiritSong service at 5:30 PM in our Social Hall at First Christian Church, North Hollywood, CA. This Contemporary Celebration and Praise service is an hour of great music from our wonderful band and singers, inspiring messages and good fellowship. Those things in life that you have been seeking have also been seeking you. Now is a good time to receive them. We will lift one another to live exciting, abundant new lives of possibility and purpose.

Also, join me on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 PM for an hour of guided and silent meditation, reflection, affirmation and prayer. As always, we will share communion together. Everyone is welcome. We are an open and affirming congregation.

“I thank God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.” (Philippians 1: 3-4)

One of the most beautiful acts we can perform for another is to lift them up in prayer. It is something we can do at any time, in any place, and in doing this we can realize God’s beautiful presence not only in their lives, but also in our own.

In the midst of the “stuff” going on in our lives it can be so difficult to see the truth of God’s blessing and answer. I know this for a fact, for I have felt it on many occasions. The burden seems especially heavy, the sky seems unusually dark and the pain feels as though it has come to stay. In these times, as much as I know God is right here, and I am never alone, it can be tough. We all feel that at times and in reaching out to God it helps to allow others to assist us in seeing God’s perfection.

There is such power in having others lift us up to God in sincere and faithful prayer. As others lift us up they can see beyond our concerns and burdens and they can see the reality of God’s blessing for us. I have always found it helpful to know that another is “holding that space of perfection” until I can see clearly enough to recognize it myself. When we pray for another we have a wonderful opportunity, and responsibility, in holding that sacred space of Gods truth for them. In our prayer, we are to be crystal clear in our own minds that the power of God is present and moving in that, and every situation. The more belief we, as the prayer, have in the power of God’s blessing, holding that space in absolute truth, the more we will be able to help those with whom we pray begin to see that truth as well.

The always inspiring Rev. Amy Butler has written, “None of us ever does the work of the Gospel community alone.” How true, and how magnificent. With one another, and with God, the miracles we seek for another become a gift to us as well.

Affirmation: “The truth of God’s beautiful miracle is at hand. It is revealed to me perfectly and I am ready to receive it.”

We live our lives one thought at a time. Let each of those thoughts really count for something wonderful.

Be prepared to change your thinking and change your life.

Please join us each Sunday for our SpiritSong service at 5:30 PM in our Social Hall at First Christian Church, North Hollywood, CA. This Contemporary Celebration and Praise service is an hour of great music from our wonderful band and singers, inspiring messages and good fellowship. Those things in life that you have been seeking have also been seeking you. Now is a good time to receive them. We will lift one another to live exciting, abundant new lives of possibility and purpose.

Also, join me on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 PM for an hour of guided and silent meditation, reflection, affirmation and prayer. As always, we will share communion together. Everyone is welcome. We are an open and affirming congregation.